This I Believe

I believe the game of golf can help with the game of life. Life is a game, and every play is important. The right move at the right time can lead to success. However, if something does not work out I have to be able to pick myself up and move on. It’s the same with golf, each swing matters. In order to have a successful round, I have to put together a string of good shots. If I have a bad stroke, I have to forget about it, and move on.

Golf is an intricate sport. Consistency, accuracy, distance, and composure are all difficult skills to put together into one swing. Every time I flip to a golf tournament on TV the pros make it look so easy. This just fuels my fire, and makes me want to go out and practice. This passion for golf flows over into school, work, and really whatever I set out to accomplish. I want to do my best in school, and when I fall short on an assignment, it fuels my fire, and I want to do better the next time. When I don’t commit to working hard, it shows. I need to do everything 100% in order to feel like I have not left anything out. Determination is a critical skill to master for both golf and life.

I play golf with my grandpa back in Georgia, where he lives. My first set of golf clubs, when I was five, was a gift to me from him. For all of my life he has beat me every round we play. Last summer, when I was fifteen, his winning streak continued, but in most rounds I only lost by a few strokes. While we were playing, whenever I hit a poor shot, I would get upset with my game. My grandpa would always tell me to concentrate on the next play, because I could not change the past. But it was difficult for me to focus on the next shot, because I was stuck on how bad the last one was. Poor shot after poor shot would just make me more angry with myself, until I was not enjoying just being out with my grandpa. It turns out that the lessons my grandpa are teaching me on the golf course are lessons for life as well. I need to learn how to move on from a bad experience, by looking to the future, and not focusing on the past.

Golf is a game of consistency, accuracy, distance, and composure. So is life. I have to be consistent in working hard. I have to be accurate at what I do and say. I have to be willing to go the distance. I have to have the composure to balance all these things. Just like my golf game nothing is perfect, but with practice, I will hopefully master both.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.